Book reviews

One city, two teams… 
the Old Firm
by Richard Wilson
Canongate, £16.99
Reviewed by Graham McColl
From WSC 301 March 2012

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Robust, solid and relentlessly serious, this foursquare introduction to the Old Firm reflects the grim nature of the ongoing struggle for temporary footballing supremacy in Glasgow that obsesses the followers of both clubs. It is almost flawless factually, although many of its tales will be as familiar to Scottish football supporters as their own front door and there appears to be only one fresh interview with a manager or player who has tasted the rivalry.

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21 years with Clough and Taylor
by Maurice Edwards
DB Publishing, £16.99
Reviewed by Mark Rowe
From WSC 279 May 2010

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Peter Taylor and Brian Clough – the author, their long-time scout, puts them in that order – were an East Midlands phenomenon. The region’s publishers love this story for its guaranteed readership; few local sports reporters of that era have not published memoirs. Maurice Edwards learned scouting from Taylor, when he was starting as a manager at Burton Albion, so long ago that David Pleat was a teenager.

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by Matt Le Tissier
by Writers Name
Harper Sport, £18.99
Reviewed by Tim Springett
From WSC 279 May 2010

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In keeping with his career, Matt Le Tissier’s autobiography is an interesting read but doesn’t truly satisfy. One reason for this is that both the front and back covers, as well as the internal layout,
look appalling.

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On Life, Football & Cosmetic Surgery
by John Ryan with John Brindley
Scratching Shed, £15.99
Reviewed by Glen Wilson
From WSC 281 July 2010

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"Just a lad from a Doncaster council estate", John Ryan made his money in cosmetic surgery, not as a surgeon, but as a salesman. As he himself says: "I've always seemed to have the ability to persuade people to do what I want." So we can all be thankful that he chose to channel his powers to resurrecting his hometown football club rather than becoming the world's first true super-villain. A life-long supporter, Ryan has taken Rovers from their lowest point to their highest, and all in little more than a decade.

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The Story of England v Argentina
by Neil Clack
Know The Score Books, £12.99
Reviewed by Tom Green
From WSC 285 November 2010

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Given our national obsession with football, it's strange how ignorant most of us are about the game from any other country's point of view. Certainly, reading Neil Clack's excellent history of the rivalry between two of the game's great nations, I found myself fascinated by the Argentine perspective.

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